New Scenario for testing NF10.2 Ant Eaters Revenge

[Gunner98]

Here is the next scenario in the Northern Fury series.

You are tasked with conducting a decisive airstrike with the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) reinforced, while transiting your forces to England. The 27th TFW consists of 3 squadrons of F-111 and a supporting squadron of EF-111s ECM aircraft, for this strike the wing has been reinforced by a squadron each of F-15C, F-16CJ, F-4G Wild Weasel, F-117 Nighthawk and other supporting forces.

This one is a tough one, and one of your most important enemies is Time & Space. I have used fictitious forward bases to assist the player with management.

Have also included an updated Northern Fury Background document. If your worried about 'scenario creep' I have it in steroids and now have 'campaign creep'! This is number 18 of what was originally going to be 20-14 scenarios, it now looks like there will be 40 or so by the end!! Eeey-gad!

As always, I look forward to any critiques or criticism. Particularly interested in how some of you manage to take down the IADS, or if I have set that up correctly.

Happy Holidays and enjoy

Update 1.7:

-removed 3 of the 4 SA-20 units (Will write it off to TLAM strikes)
-removed the Big Bird on the Hill (TLAM bait) there are still other Big Birds out there but lower down along the coast
-advanced the timeline for the SEAD squadrons
-backed off the timeline for the F-117 squadron
-added 2 B-52H with CLACM ready at start

Ver 1.8

Have added 336 FS, F-15E all at Goose and a mix of bombs (40% GBU24, 40% GBU12, 20% Rockeye, all AMRAAM) set for about the same time as the F-117s

Fixed a couple text issues
Replaced the Sov Stingers with SA-18
Set the Cubs to Jam
Set some Alt's for some of the Sov CAPs. Didn't actually see anything wrong here but manually set it anyway
Deactivated the arrival event until I can figure out what is going wrong

OK here is another cut at it. Ver 1.9

-Changed up a lot of the ammo loading
-F-15C AMRAAM Heavy (they only lose 10 min of flight time)
-F-111 about 80% GBU-15V2, the other 20% GBU-15V32(penetrator)
-F-15E 40% AMRAAM Heavy, 40% GBU-15V2, 20% GBU-15V32
-F-117 50% GBU-27, 30% HARM, 20% Maverick
-Added an EC-130E Commando Solo
-Added 2 x EC-130H Compass Call
-Added 4 x EA-6B
-Changed up the VPs so for the Runways and Taxiways you need to damage them 85%

OK Ver 2.0

-Played with the triggers to make the whole WP side active
-Added the 'Big Bird' back on the hill, key to the triggers
-Added an RC-135 Rivet Joint
-Added a Marine VMFA Sqn with more HARMS & TLADs
-Added some Marine Hurc tankers from a Trg sqn
-Deleted 1/2 the ANG F-16s
-Deleted 1/2 the Prowlers


Ver 2.1 final

-Changed F-15C back to AMRAAM Medium
-couple of ammo tweaks
-couple of briefing tweaks

Thanks for all your help


B

[Airborne Rifles]

Nice!

[AndrewJ]

Downloading!

[AndrewJ]

I notice in the briefing in Section D 2) it refers to "27 TFW (522, 523, 524 TFS AND 430 ECS)", but further down in D 3) E. 1) D) it mentions "429 ECS (EF-111A)" instead. 429 is what is used in the aircraft names also.

In other notes: They're sending me up against SA-20s with Mk82s! [X(] I'm gonna die! [:(]

[Gunner98]

Thanks Andrew, all should be 429 ECS, 430 ECS will make an appearance in 10.4. 
 
Trying to pin down where the EF-111's would/should be in 94 is a bit of an issue.  Of the original 42, three were destroyed in crashes, leaving 39. Not sure when they crashed but am assuming pre-94.  One source I have says that 42nd ECS had 18 and was stationed in the UK until 92, also 388th ECS was in the states with 24 until 82.  Both 429 & 430 appear in 92 with 430 disbanding in 93 and 429 continuing until 98. So I can only assume that the 429th was the only active squadron beyond 93 and that is where all the 'Spark-Varks' went to die. That's reality - I think.
 
So, since this is an 'alternate' history, I'm keeping both 42nd & 430th alive but re-distributing the remaining AC so each of the 3 Sqns has 12 with 3 as combat replacements. 
 
Also I assumed that they would generally be paired with the F-111 wings, but these are also transitioning, the 20th & 48th in the UK, 27th in the states - the 48th had already converted to F-15 C & E by 93 and that's the way I'm playing them, so only two active tactical F-111 wings.  Of note, I could not find any reference pointing to F-111 in the Pacific (beyond Viet Nam) or Alaska.  In 89, there were about 60 F-111A in SAC but I have removed these as being obsolete, (replaced by B-1 and a handful of B-2) and interestingly SAC did not seem to use the EF model.  So my conclusion there is that  all F-111 and therefore all EF-111 were destined to operate in Europe.
 
This scenario has 11 available - which is probably too many.  I believe they were hanger queens and absorbed spare parts like sponge at the beach!  But, I'm sure you'll let me know how it goes against those SA-20's [;)]
 
Also since the B-52's are also going to need EW support, and 430 is unemployed, they will be joining the fun in BUFF Stampede (10.4)
 
Long answer to say - thanks for picking that up [:)]

[Excroat3]

Yay! Another scenario that is way to big for my skill set!!! [:D] I love just entering your scenarios and browsing the orbats, the units, and reading the special messages. It gives me a feeling of immersion that is really cool. When looking through this scenario, I found one extremely minor issue. http://i.imgur.com/zz2x4Bk.png?1 That unit is armed with stingers, rather than SA-7s. I just thought it would be weird if the F-111s are leaving from strikes on those units to the right and they see American stingers coming for them. Other than that, everything looks amazing!

[Gunner98]

Nice catch, I'm using the same basic airbase (much enlarged) as when the US had it 10 days ago (scenario time). I'll have to scrub through it, it would be odd to have an Aardvark 'stung'...[;)]

[Maromak]

ORIGINAL: AndrewJ

In other notes: They're sending me up against SA-20s with Mk82s! [X(] I'm gonna die! [:(]

Yep I am finding the start of this scenario quite challenging - especially trying to clear a path for the F-117s so early in the scenario.

[Gunner98]

OK, I was having a hard time as well but figured that you guys would be able to crack it. I can back some stuff off, have been thinking of the following:

1) knock out some of the SA-20s based on USN SEAD & TLAM strikes the previous day
2) delaying the F-117's until after the SEAD squadrons come through - thought that with their stealth they would go first but was also losing some of them
3) advancing the time of the SEAD strikes
4) employ some type of standoff weapon but couldn't think of one that would be available in 94

Or a combination of the above. would appreciate your thoughts?

B

[B52H]

ORIGINAL: Gunner98

OK, I was having a hard time as well but figured that you guys would be able to crack it. I can back some stuff off, have been thinking of the following:

1) knock out some of the SA-20s based on USN SEAD & TLAM strikes the previous day
2) delaying the F-117's until after the SEAD squadrons come through - thought that with their stealth they would go first but was also losing some of them
3) advancing the time of the SEAD strikes
4) employ some type of standoff weapon but couldn't think of one that would be available in 94

Or a combination of the above. would appreciate your thoughts?

B

Not sure if this will help, but you could add some B-52s with AGM-86 cruise missiles.

[Gunner98]

Planned those for the following night, but might be useful here. According to Wiki there were only 200+ of the C model produced, I'll have to up that in the storyline.

Thanks for the suggestion

[Maromak]

ORIGINAL: Gunner98

OK, I was having a hard time as well but figured that you guys would be able to crack it. I can back some stuff off, have been thinking of the following:

1) knock out some of the SA-20s based on USN SEAD & TLAM strikes the previous day
2) delaying the F-117's until after the SEAD squadrons come through - thought that with their stealth they would go first but was also losing some of them
3) advancing the time of the SEAD strikes
4) employ some type of standoff weapon but couldn't think of one that would be available in 94

Or a combination of the above. would appreciate your thoughts?

B

When I replayed from the beginning again I went with option 2 above and kept the F-117s on the 'ground' at the mobile base. Even with some stand off jamming support I would have lost over 50% of the F-117s if I had kept to the original timing.

I also had some CTD issues possibly associated with the SEAD strikes which have been reported.

[Maromak]

I've put another few hours into this scenario and in its current form I'd rank it as probably the most difficult on par with Tomcat84's Red Flag. The recent adjustment of OECM is definitely noticeable in this scenario. The EF-111s don't seem to assist much. When it was pretty clear that chipping away with SEAD wasn't particularly effective, I launched an all-in F-111 strike. The attacking flights were strung out as I didn't bother to delay the lead attackers to let others catch up. The IADS around the targets hit the attackers very effectively and I don't think a single F-111 dropped a bomb anywhere near the target. I did not attempt to use terrain masking and just let the auto planner do its thing. EF-111s were added as strike mission escorts. I would be interested to read about strategies others have used for this scenario.

I have attached a screenshot of the beginning of the F-111 strikes.

[AndrewJ]

I haven't actually started playing this yet, but I'm wondering about the poor guys sent to man the Big Bird and SA-22 up in the highlands. Can they even physically deploy up there? There's only one unpaved road up there, through the adjacent valley, and it's February. In Iceland.... [:(]

Looking at the current Icelandic road conditions HERE shows this road is considered "Impassable", as are all the other highland roads, and the high ground roads aren't maintained in the winter. So the Russians would probably have arrived to find essentially a virgin snowfield with (just guessing) a couple of meters (or more) of snow up there.

Now I know they could theoretically use helicopters, but unless they've brought in something enormous like an Mi-26, I suspect they couldn't lift the radar equipment or the SAM system, which both seem to be massive pieces of kit. I wonder if even the Mi-26 could handle them? And bringing such a large helicopter into a snowfield has risks of its own (self-generated blizzards, etc.).

[AndrewJ]

I was also doing some tests with the EF-111s, and found that against the SA-20's Tombstone radar they are only useful in very specific circumstances. The Tombstone gets detection on the jamming EF-111 itself at ~ 51 nm, and the jammer only affects detection in a very narrow region. Your other aircraft must be almost exactly along the line between the jammer and the radar to get any benefit. Being a mile off to the side means you'll be getting no benefit at all. Of course, with detection at over 50 miles, even that jamming won't help much, since the jammer will be shot down long before anyone can reach the target. Even pairing an F-117 with an EF-111 and sending them both directly towards the SA-20 (which for some reason obligingly decides not to shoot the jammer) still gives the SA-20 a detection on the stealthy F-117 at 17 nm, long before it can do anything to the SAM.

I suspect terrain masking and a tolerance for 50% casualties are the only way we're going to get anything done in these circumstances.

[Gunner98]

OK

I'll take this one back to the drawing board. Thanks for the testing guys.

For the roads, bulldozers & snowplows should sort that out. I figured where there was a need, engineering would find a way

Needed the SA-20's & SA-22's to prevent the hailstorm of TLAMs in the earlier scenarios.

I am wondering if the Jammer vs Jammer action is limiting the EF-111's? Quite a few ground based jammers in the area.

Andrew - in your testing did you note if it was only the Tombstone which was burning through the EF-111 jammer?

Thanks again guys. 50% casualties are not what I was after in this one, 10-15% perhaps.

Hope to have a new version out tonight or tomorrow.


B

[Maromak]

ORIGINAL: AndrewJ

I was also doing some tests with the EF-111s, and found that against the SA-20's Tombstone radar they are only useful in very specific circumstances. The Tombstone gets detection on the jamming EF-111 itself at ~ 51 nm, and the jammer only affects detection in a very narrow region. Your other aircraft must be almost exactly along the line between the jammer and the radar to get any benefit. Being a mile off to the side means you'll be getting no benefit at all. Of course, with detection at over 50 miles, even that jamming won't help much, since the jammer will be shot down long before anyone can reach the target. Even pairing an F-117 with an EF-111 and sending them both directly towards the SA-20 (which for some reason obligingly decides not to shoot the jammer) still gives the SA-20 a detection on the stealthy F-117 at 17 nm, long before it can do anything to the SAM.

Thanks for sharing these results. Explains a lot!

[AndrewJ]

I only looked at a few other radars so far. The Clam Shell which is also part of the SA-20 battery, is much more severely affected by the jammers, and only gets first detection of a jamming EF-111 at around 12 nm. However, since the Tombstone seems to do all the detections, the Clam Shell is essentially irrelevant. The Big Bird surveillance radar locates a jamming EF-111 at 206 nm, and can see a stealthy F-117 at 51 nm. Stacking the F-117 on top of an EF-111 kept the F-117 hidden down to 29 nm.

[s]One other small item: the KC-10s at Langley seem to be assigned to a mission (MCS Tankers) that doesn't exist any more.[/s] Oops, allied unit mission, not an issue.

[Gunner98]

OK Guys, thanks again for the testing.

Attached and at the original post is ver 1.7. I have ratcheted it back quite a bit, maybe too far, please advise:

-removed 3 of the 4 SA-20 units (Will write it off to TLAM strikes)
-removed the Big Bird on the Hill (TLAM bait) there are still other Big Birds out there but lower down along the coast
-advanced the timeline for the SEAD squadrons
-backed off the timeline for the F-117 squadron
-added 2 B-52H with CLACM ready at start

I was having similar difficulties but wrote that off to my clumsiness, thanks for the help.

B

EDIT: proper version now loaded

[Gunner98]

Grrr

Version control problem on my part. Used an older version as a base for 1.7. Will have a proper one up in an hour - sorry bout that!